Welcome to the Den of the Kindergarten Dragons!! Otherwise known as Kindergarten Classroom Room 130!! Join me on this journey while I learn and grow, and share all my experiences with you!!

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Wednesday, September 2, 2015

#2getherWeAreBetter September: Classroom Reveal

It's the second of September already?? That one snuck up on me!! I know that some of my teacher friends to the North of me won't have kiddos until next Tuesday, and that those to the South and West of me have had kiddos for several weeks now. Me, I just finished up Day 7 with my Dragons!

Since it is officially September 2nd, that means I get to link up with Schroeder's Shennanigans In Second and Lucky Little Learners for their incredibly awesome #2getherwearebetter link up!!

This occurs on the second of every month and we get to blog about a different topic each time. This month it is all about Classroom Reveals!!

It just so happens that today's topic for the #teacherweek15 link up is also Classroom Reveal!! I wonder if that was planned?? Anyway, it makes it easy to have two posts in one!!

I have been incredibly fortunate to have some seriously wonderful ladies help me this year in setting up the classroom!! With my injury, I would not have been able to do it without them! I am so very lucky to work at a school where everyone is more like family than mere co-workers!!

Here are a few peeks into The Dragon's Den, my much-loved kindergarten classroom!

This is my Number Line. It's pretty high up on the wall so it's hard to get a decent angle so the entire line can be included, but the numbers range from 0-20. Each border is a different rainbow pattern or design, with bright primary colors. Each dragon is holding a numeral done in a rainbow scribble pattern. The letters that make up each number word perfectly match the design of the numerals. Each number is represented by a set of jewels or gems inside a ten-frame, because we all know Dragons love collecting sparkly gems!

Here's a shot of my Alphabet Line. It's pretty high up, so again it's tricky to get a good shot of it.

Of course, the glare from the lights doesn't help! Each letter is represented on handwriting lines with the uppercase and lowercase versions, and the vowels are in red ink. Each letter has a dragon holding a picture representation of a high-frequency word that begins with each letter. The 'Dd' dragon is holding a doughnut while the 'Yy' has a yak. Also, each vowel has two pictures, one for the short and long vowel sounds. In addition, the letters 'Cc' and 'Gg' have a hard and soft sound picture.

This is my classroom door. Each of my Dragons has their name on a crayon, which is being held by a flying dragon.

We've had some super-ugly-hot-and-humid weather these past few days, most days reaching well above 90. As if that isn't bad enough, the humidity is ridonkulous!! All of my dragon tags are flying right off the door!! No joke, it's like as soon as I put them back up they are falling off again!!Due to my injury and not being able to do anything for myself, my room is still very much a work in progress!!Here is a view of my room from our classroom door.

The table closest to the windows is where I host my small groups. The other tables are mainly used during breakfast time and rotations. Otherwise we're sitting on the floor in front of the SMART Board. In the back left corner you can sort of see our back door, which leads right out onto our playground. On the counter are the student mailboxes, where they put their Take Home Folders each morning. In the back right corner is my desk, which is a bit messy. I don't spend a whole lot of time sitting at my desk, so it's more of a dropping zone for things throughout the day!

This is the front of my classroom, where our SMART Board is. The Board was mounted right over the chalkboard, but as you can tell they didn't center it very well when they installed it! On each side of the Board are two large bulletin boards. The one closest to my desk is where I tack up important information that pertains to me. The other board will be our ELA board, that I will add to as the year progresses and we being working with our phonics skills.Above the Board is a long, thin bulletin board that I use to display different letter sound posters, which will be added to as we learn them. The wall above the bulletin boards is where my Number Line is located. Underneath the Board are our Daily 5 Book Bins.

The back of the room has the same set-up as the front. I use the chalkboard as my Word Wall. The bulletin board on the right will be our schedule and calendar board, and the board on the left will be our Math board. You can also see several of my centers in this picture. Starting at the far left is the Pocket Chart, then Dramatic Play, next is ELA/Math stations cart, and on the far right is my Blocks area.

The far right corner of my room holds a few more centers. You can see the Sensory table against the wall. Right now there are scraps of different types of paper inside, along with several pairs of scissors. Students have been practicing their cutting skills by slicing up the scrap paper. This is a great beginning of the year Sensory activity, as I can see at a glance who still needs to practice holding their scissors correctly.There is a connecting door to another kindergarten classroom, then a door to the kitchenette we share. We made play-dough in that kitchen last week!!The easel represents my Art center, which right now has white paper and markers for students to create their own drawings.We have our own bathroom, which can be seen next to the sink. It's so great to have a bathroom right in the classroom, and only the Early Childhood rooms have this feature.

Finally, you can see our locker area. Each student has their own locker (there are 30 lockers but luckily I only have 19 students!) and they are responsible for putting their backpacks, lunch boxes, and jackets inside their locker each morning. I use the counters and cabinets above the lockers as storage areas.That's the basic tour of my classroom this year! As I update the boards and add more things to the wall, I'll take more pictures and post them on my blog. I hope you enjoyed your peek into The Dragon's Den! Want to check out lots of other classroom set ups? Swing on over and see who else has linked up!

You can also hop over to Blog Hoppin' to see even MORE classroom set-ups and revealings!!

I had cubbies when I taught pre-k and there was always stuff falling out of them! The lockers are great, though we do have to have several class discussions about how to shut the doors quietly!Thanks so much for reading about my classroom reveal and taking the time to leave a comment, it really means a lot!

Erin - I just love your dragon themed classroom!! I'm sure your students love them! When I saw the dragon clipart from Educlips posted recently, I thought of you!! Your dragon number posters are adorable! And I love the lockers! I think that's nice that they each have their own space! Thanks so much for sharing and I hope you are getting stronger each day from your injury!

Thanks so much Heather!! I had to scoop up those Dragons from Educlips, they were so cute!! I'm so glad more clip art designers are creating dragons!! Thank you so much for your super sweet words about my decor, I'm loving it and so glad I created it! I am getting a little better every day, and am making sure to take it easy and not overdo it!Thank you so much for reading about my classroom reveal and leaving such incredibly sweet feedback, you totally rock!

We are very lucky to have the kitchenette! The only other one in the building is in the pre-k room! The lockers also make things so much easier, each kiddo has their own space. There are lockers in every classroom in our school. Sometimes it gets on my nerves that I can't see behind them, but the kiddos learn quickly they can't hang out back there!Thank you so much for reading my classroom reveal and leaving such awesome feedback!

Those lockers definitely come in handy! Luckily each classroom in our school has them, and the kiddos who were in pre-k already know how to use them and when my Dragons head to first grade they'll be locker pros! It does make it easier to give them a space to keep their stuff, though the slamming of locker doors is always a headache at the beginning of the year! I hope your school year goes wonderfully for you!Thanks so much for reading my classroom reveal and leaving such awesome feedback!